This felt cathartic to me. I know this ownership group will not have the brains - or the stones- to do this. I think they are more interested in trying to parlay a new arena, either in the DFW burbs or on the Vegas strip. They really don't seem to be in tune with what benefits the fan base here...that said, I needed this to help me with my own feelings. So, as I often say, thank you Sports Leader for your insight and your healing balm.
Yea, Seinfeld used to joke we are really just rooting for laundry. But the Jones clan has shown that fandom is supporting ownership more than anything else when it comes to poorly run franchises.
The Spurs used to be the Dallas Chaparrals. I'm not saying, but I'm just saying.
Indeed they do seem to be taking a page out of the Jones playbook - double down on decisions, show extreme stubbornness, never admit error. Check, check, and check.
Came across this quote from Dumont in D Mag that seemed pertinent: "In 20 years, I want the Mavs to be the No. 1 NBA team in the world,” Dumont says. “I can’t say what that’ll mean in terms of exact value, but if we are, it means we’ve accomplished all our goals.”
I'm convinced that they are trying to move the Mavs out of Dallas. Good riddance, I say. Leave us our franchise history, get us a new franchise with a new owner, and get the F out of Dallas as fast as you can.
I’m with Bob. Blow it up. Really makes no difference the Mav’s are headed to NBA HELL. Ultimately, this ownership and GM have gutted this fan base. Luka was the face of the franchise. He was our Larry Bird, our Magic Johnson, our Micheal Jordan. Big time free agents wanted to finally sign with the Mav’s because Luka made them better. All the picks would be nice and maybe you put enough together to win a championship. But the odds of getting another player like Luka is very low. He had all the tangible’s. Athleticism, intelligence the vision but most of all he had the ability to perform under pressure, which in my opinion separates the greats from the very good. Now he’s gone and we’re left to sift through the ashes.
1000%. All of the all time greats are stone-cold killers when the pressure is on. Only a moron trades a guy like that. I wouldn't even have accepted 10 1st round picks for Luka. You don't trade generational players.
Here’s a trade idea. The Mavs need a PG / playmaker and have extra bigs. The Lakers are the opposite. So maybe trade AD, Christie, and a first rounder for Luka. Think the Lakers will do that, Nico?
Best bet to renew my mavs fandom is a sturmstack takeover of the mavs. Bob how many more subscribers do you need to purchase the team?? $5 billion can't be that hard to come by lol
As long as we are being unrealistic (especially regarding #8-10), let us add #11: Sign 27 year old free agent Luka in Summer 2026 to really ignite the rebuild!
As a long suffering Wizards fan whose team has never had the level of talent that is currently on the Mavs, this sounds overly reactive to me. I can get onboard with the mending fences part, but this team is still good enough to win IMO. I think you roll the dice at least one more year to see if everyone can be healthy, because a full teardown is going to be extremely painful, speaking from experience.
well, if you do that, then you find out you have no 1sts between 2027 and 2030 which hit exactly the moment Kyrie and AD are ready to retire. They cannot stay on this path.
Which makes the Luka trade more confusing. Knowing the ages of Kyrie and AD, why would you not require more draft picks in the trade to replenish your roster as these players age.
Correct. I also love your plans, but there's no chance in hell I ever support this team again. I just can't do it. And honestly, I don't know how anyone can.
Right. I was coming here to stress this point. The draft pick trades over the past few years have made the current path unacceptable. You have to bottom out now so that you're on the upswing when the draft pick desert arrives.
Agreed. To me you are just delaying the inevitable not blowing it up now. And your assets are depreciating fast. Sad that we're at this point given 4 weeks ago we had a 25 year old star to build around for a decade but it is reality.
Nico going to trade the rest of our 1sts this off-season for KD. Who wants to root for that? This team has no soul anymore. Just a bunch of mercenaries.
Without additional playmaking at the guard or small wing position this team isn't good enough to win even one series. The Luka archetype of "having the best guy on floor" who is
also the offensive creator is the type of guy that wins in the post season. AD can't create a thing for himself nor can anyone else on the roster outside of Kyrie. This team is doomed as Bob has said. We traded a high floor high ceiling roster for a lower floor and lower ceiling. Make it make sense
Sounds perfect to me. If not now, how about the day Luka returns 4/9. And he better get a beautiful montage and thank you video. All of these things actually need to happen to mend the broken relationship with fans and to offer some hope for the future. And if they don't at least do some of these things, there is no repairing this relationship. And this team is steamrolling to the wasteland.
Great article, Bob. I agree with everything you laid out but don't see the humility or self-reflection that would be required by someone like Dumont to actually admit this was a colossal mistake.
The chef's kiss here will be to see Luka and LeBron take the Lakers to the NBA finals while the Mavs limp into the lottery. I certainly did not see this happening in 2025 - or ever for that matter - but I'm going to be rooting hard for Luka, JJ, and the Lakers in the playoffs this year.
My suggestion for any media outlet in this market:
Do not interview or (quote from a press release) Patrick Dumont and/or Nico Harrison. Nobody cares what they believe, think, feel or say. They are figuratively dead to us. And nothing they say on any topic can be trusted.
Substitute the Jones clan in that verbiage, and the same could be said there. Theirs is more of a death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts vs the beheading from the Mavs, but the result is the same!
I could only wish these moves would actually happen but this ownership group has absolutely 100% no clue what they are doing. The ticket price increase announcement only cemented that fact for me. This train is full speed flying off the cliff at this point. Unfortunately, the Jones' will prob get some credit back from DFW fans for being more sane than this bunch. Which will only make our Cowboys issues worse as well.
This felt cathartic to me. I know this ownership group will not have the brains - or the stones- to do this. I think they are more interested in trying to parlay a new arena, either in the DFW burbs or on the Vegas strip. They really don't seem to be in tune with what benefits the fan base here...that said, I needed this to help me with my own feelings. So, as I often say, thank you Sports Leader for your insight and your healing balm.
Patrick Dumont, your pledge name is….Flounder
With respect, I don't understand how anyone can still support this franchise. They've abandoned us; we should do the same with them.
This is my attitude as well. Don't care what they do. Hope they fail miserably.
Yea, Seinfeld used to joke we are really just rooting for laundry. But the Jones clan has shown that fandom is supporting ownership more than anything else when it comes to poorly run franchises.
The Spurs used to be the Dallas Chaparrals. I'm not saying, but I'm just saying.
Spot on!
Not a chance in hell this ownership group has enough sense to implement any of those good ideas
Indeed they do seem to be taking a page out of the Jones playbook - double down on decisions, show extreme stubbornness, never admit error. Check, check, and check.
Came across this quote from Dumont in D Mag that seemed pertinent: "In 20 years, I want the Mavs to be the No. 1 NBA team in the world,” Dumont says. “I can’t say what that’ll mean in terms of exact value, but if we are, it means we’ve accomplished all our goals.”
Jerry is smiling like a proud papa.
The photo (featuring the fake cowboy sitting courtside) with this story is perfect and evokes one of my favorite sayings:
"All hat, no cattle." That sums up the "leadership" of our local NBA franchise.
I'd love someone to gin up a parody song of Talkin Heads' "Burning Down The House" and make it "Blowing Up The Team."
And, to Patrick Dumont and Nico Harrison:
Karma is a bitch. Karma is undefeated. You effed with karma and here's your prize.
I'm convinced that they are trying to move the Mavs out of Dallas. Good riddance, I say. Leave us our franchise history, get us a new franchise with a new owner, and get the F out of Dallas as fast as you can.
I’m with Bob. Blow it up. Really makes no difference the Mav’s are headed to NBA HELL. Ultimately, this ownership and GM have gutted this fan base. Luka was the face of the franchise. He was our Larry Bird, our Magic Johnson, our Micheal Jordan. Big time free agents wanted to finally sign with the Mav’s because Luka made them better. All the picks would be nice and maybe you put enough together to win a championship. But the odds of getting another player like Luka is very low. He had all the tangible’s. Athleticism, intelligence the vision but most of all he had the ability to perform under pressure, which in my opinion separates the greats from the very good. Now he’s gone and we’re left to sift through the ashes.
1000%. All of the all time greats are stone-cold killers when the pressure is on. Only a moron trades a guy like that. I wouldn't even have accepted 10 1st round picks for Luka. You don't trade generational players.
Absolutely agree
Here’s a trade idea. The Mavs need a PG / playmaker and have extra bigs. The Lakers are the opposite. So maybe trade AD, Christie, and a first rounder for Luka. Think the Lakers will do that, Nico?
Best bet to renew my mavs fandom is a sturmstack takeover of the mavs. Bob how many more subscribers do you need to purchase the team?? $5 billion can't be that hard to come by lol
As long as we are being unrealistic (especially regarding #8-10), let us add #11: Sign 27 year old free agent Luka in Summer 2026 to really ignite the rebuild!
Love it! The prodigal son returns!
I've moved on.
Am happy the franchise has been exposed as the inept, clueless, coldhearted, ignorant F-ups they are.
Feel bad for all the players left behind.
Hope the franchise never recovers.
As a long suffering Wizards fan whose team has never had the level of talent that is currently on the Mavs, this sounds overly reactive to me. I can get onboard with the mending fences part, but this team is still good enough to win IMO. I think you roll the dice at least one more year to see if everyone can be healthy, because a full teardown is going to be extremely painful, speaking from experience.
well, if you do that, then you find out you have no 1sts between 2027 and 2030 which hit exactly the moment Kyrie and AD are ready to retire. They cannot stay on this path.
Which makes the Luka trade more confusing. Knowing the ages of Kyrie and AD, why would you not require more draft picks in the trade to replenish your roster as these players age.
Correct. I also love your plans, but there's no chance in hell I ever support this team again. I just can't do it. And honestly, I don't know how anyone can.
Right. I was coming here to stress this point. The draft pick trades over the past few years have made the current path unacceptable. You have to bottom out now so that you're on the upswing when the draft pick desert arrives.
Agreed. To me you are just delaying the inevitable not blowing it up now. And your assets are depreciating fast. Sad that we're at this point given 4 weeks ago we had a 25 year old star to build around for a decade but it is reality.
It's hard to imagine a franchise going from:
A legitimate win-now championship contender with a franchise-caliber 25 YO talent and a talent and cost-controlled near term future to...
Zero hope for the present, no hope for the near future, no real long-term talent to build around and no future draft picks
ANd did so BY CHOICE and with a single decision.
Mavs trading of Doncic will forever be remembered as the worst GM decision in modern sports history in terms of franchise impact.
Nico going to trade the rest of our 1sts this off-season for KD. Who wants to root for that? This team has no soul anymore. Just a bunch of mercenaries.
Without additional playmaking at the guard or small wing position this team isn't good enough to win even one series. The Luka archetype of "having the best guy on floor" who is
also the offensive creator is the type of guy that wins in the post season. AD can't create a thing for himself nor can anyone else on the roster outside of Kyrie. This team is doomed as Bob has said. We traded a high floor high ceiling roster for a lower floor and lower ceiling. Make it make sense
Sounds perfect to me. If not now, how about the day Luka returns 4/9. And he better get a beautiful montage and thank you video. All of these things actually need to happen to mend the broken relationship with fans and to offer some hope for the future. And if they don't at least do some of these things, there is no repairing this relationship. And this team is steamrolling to the wasteland.
Great article, Bob. I agree with everything you laid out but don't see the humility or self-reflection that would be required by someone like Dumont to actually admit this was a colossal mistake.
The chef's kiss here will be to see Luka and LeBron take the Lakers to the NBA finals while the Mavs limp into the lottery. I certainly did not see this happening in 2025 - or ever for that matter - but I'm going to be rooting hard for Luka, JJ, and the Lakers in the playoffs this year.
My suggestion for any media outlet in this market:
Do not interview or (quote from a press release) Patrick Dumont and/or Nico Harrison. Nobody cares what they believe, think, feel or say. They are figuratively dead to us. And nothing they say on any topic can be trusted.
Substitute the Jones clan in that verbiage, and the same could be said there. Theirs is more of a death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts vs the beheading from the Mavs, but the result is the same!
I could only wish these moves would actually happen but this ownership group has absolutely 100% no clue what they are doing. The ticket price increase announcement only cemented that fact for me. This train is full speed flying off the cliff at this point. Unfortunately, the Jones' will prob get some credit back from DFW fans for being more sane than this bunch. Which will only make our Cowboys issues worse as well.
Love the Metallica lyrics reference btw...